Buffett’s Berkshire Hit With Sell Rating as Oracle of Omaha Exits Position

Wall Street delivers brutal verdict on Buffett's legacy play

The shocking downgrade comes as Berkshire Hathaway's legendary founder Warren Buffett completely exits his position in BRK.B—sending traditional investors scrambling while crypto natives nod knowingly.

Active management meets its reckoning

Analysts slash ratings across the board as the 94-year-old investing icon abandons his own creation. The move exposes the fragility of centralized investment vehicles in an era of decentralized finance.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues trading 24/7 without needing a 94-year-old billionaire to manage it—proving once again that code doesn't retire, doesn't change its strategy, and certainly doesn't trigger mass sell ratings when it decides to take profits.

Another reminder that in traditional finance, your investment strategy depends entirely on one man's health and mood—while in crypto, the protocol just keeps running whether the founder is awake, asleep, or playing golf.

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Analysts at boutique investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, known as KBW, downgraded Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B stock to a Sell-equivalent underperform rating, warning investors that Warren Buffett’s succession and a slew of business headwinds could weigh on the holding company’s future earnings and share performance.

KBW lowered its price target on Berkshire Hathaway’s more expensive Class A shares to $700,000 from $740,000, implying 5% downside from current levels. “Beyond our ongoing concerns surrounding macro uncertainty and Berkshire’s historically unique succession risk, we think the shares will underperform as earnings challenges emerge and/or persist,” wrote the analysts in a note to clients.

Succession

Berkshire’s stock has largely been trading sideways since Warren Buffett, age 95, announced this spring that he will step down as CEO of the company at year’s end. However, Buffett, who has run Berkshire for 60 years, will remain chair of the company’s board of directors.

Not having Buffett directly involved in daily affairs is a blow to Berkshire Hathaway, argues KBW. Plus, the company’s Core businesses that include auto insurer Geico and railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe are likely to face pressure in the year ahead as the U.S. economy and consumer spending slow.

BRK.B stock is up 7% on the year, trailing the 17% gain in the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Is BRK.B Stock a Buy?

Only a couple of analysts currently offer a rating and price target on Berkshire Hathaway’s more affordable class B stock. So instead, we’ll look at the shares’ three-month performance. As one can see in the chart below, shares of BRK.B have risen 2.16% in the last 12 weeks.